Apology
by Sinceritea
Summary: All of this out of one screwed up apology. NaruHina


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Apology

He wasn't one to feel weak around anybody...much less her of all people....he was full of strength and optimism. It was what he was known for. He hated the looks of disgust on people's faces and he fought forever to change them into something else...even annoyance and anger. On a good day, it would turn into amusement. And that was when he would shine.

His smile hid the sadness....his twinkling blue eyes hid the tears....his laughter hid the lonely wails...and his hyperactivity hid the longing he had for one word.

Love.

Hell, he didn't even know what it was. He had only read it when he had sneaked into that adult comics store and saw something written about "love-making." So you'd know that his view of love was very...one-sided, if that was the word for it.

But then he had heard it again when he was little and an adult was saying goodbye to a child..."I love you." And another time, he had accidentally come upon a couple, whispering that sentence to each other under the moonlight.

It was confusing.

There was so many definitions for one word.

And yet...he wanted it.

He didn't even know why.

He could live like this. He was alone, yeah, that was for sure. But he had survived, hadn't he? Hadn't he become stronger? He didn't need love. He had his skills, he had his ramen and he had his team. He didn't need anyone else. Much less her.

He didn't even know how it had started. Back when he was normal. Since now, he was probably crazy, cracking under the pressure and feeling emotions he had never known...ever.

-----

" WHAT?"

" We're out of ramen!!" The shopkeeper repeated, frustrated. " We'll get more by tonight-"

" TONIGHT?? THAT'S....A LOT OF HOURS AWAY!"

" NARUTO!!" Sakura yelled finally. " Would you give up?? They're out of ramen. God!"

Naruto bounced on his feet, whining, " But I'm hungry."

" Would you shut up, dobe?" Sasuke growled, cracking open his eyes just an inch. They were standing outside the shop, Sasuke leaning against the wall, tiredly and Sakura glaring at Naruto.

Naruto jumped around pathetically. " But what will I do with my ramen?"

" God, ramen isn't your girlfriend or anything, so I don't know why you even-" Sakura began to grumble but Naruto intervened, " Then will you be my girlfriend??"

bonk

Naruto rubbed his throbbing head. " Never mind..."

They walked back to their room at a nearby hotel where they were staying. They had just finished a mission with Kiba, Shino and Hinata.

Naruto was still hyped up about it, even though he was kind of bitter because at the end, after all the replicas he had made and even letting go of Kyuubi's energy a bit...Sasuke still stole the show by saving everyone's butts...including his.

It annoyed him to no end so he hadn't spared any mercy towards Sasuke.

" Sasuke, why don't you go jump in a well and DROWN???"

Nice comeback, Naruto. Loved the enunciation at the end and the evil look on your face. It was absolutely captivating.

" Shut up, dobe."

.....

Didn't work.

So it was natural that he was quite angry when he came back to the hotel. He had a right to be! So when they arrived, Naruto complaining loudly about Sasuke and the lack of ramen, he had stomped up the rackety stairs and stalked towards the room he was being forced to share with Sasuke.

On the way, of course, he bumped into the shyest girl he had ever met in his whole lifetime.

" N-N-N-Naruto-kun!!" She said, surprised. " Uh-I-Ah-"

Sadly, Naruto was very angry at the time and could not control what came out of his mouth. " Would you please MOVE so I could get to my ROOM??"

See, to another person, this wouldn't have seemed so rude. But this was Hinata we're talking about. The look on her face was one of utter shock, shame and sadness.

" I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun, I-I'm so sorry!" She said, tears rising to her eyes, before she ran off in the opposite direction.

Naruto watched her go, a bit flabbergasted and then realized what he had said. He had forgotten how sensitive the girl was and felt the look on her face imprint itself in his mind and he groaned.

" God, I'm an idiot.." He muttered as he unlocked the room and went in, banging his forehead against the door.

" What did you do now?" Sasuke asked as he changed clothes. Naruto rose his eyebrows. Sasuke was getting more sociable. Surprising.

"Nothing you need to know about," Naruto grumbled, flopping on his bed with his face down.

" Probably something stupid, knowing you," Sasuke smirked, before going under the covers and closing the light. Naruto blinked in the darkness before groaning.

It didn't matter anyways, Hinata would just get over it. He didn't say anything mean anyways...

He was still in his orange jumpsuit. He sat up, taking off his orange jacket.

"I'm so sorry Naruto-kun..."

Why was he feeling so guilty? Something in his chest hurt after seeing the tears in her eyes. She was always a person he had liked. Never had he heard an insult come from her mouth regarding him...sure, she was shy and definitely not outgoing...but in many ways, he admired her. Her determination, especially during that fight with her cousin.

She was pretty cute too...

Maybe he should apologize..

Yeah! That was it! He should apologize! So pumped up with his idea, he got up and walked out of the room, stumbling through the dark hallway for it was quite late and the occupants in the hotel were all sleeping.

He reached the room Hinata and Sakura were sharing and knocked on the door.

Hinata opened it. She was holding a cup of green tea in one hand and the minute she saw him, she dropped the cup, the green tea spilling over the ground.

And over Naruto's feet.

" ARGH! Hot, hot, hot!!" Naruto yelled, jumping up and down. Hinata's eyes widened and she quickly grabbed Naruto, bringing him into her room and away from the hot tea.

" Naruto-kun, are you okay?" She asked desperately, looking at his feet.

" Yeah, yeah. Nothing the future Hokage can't handle!" He cried triumphantly, striking a pose.

Hinata quickly put a finger to her lips, shushing him. " Sakura's still sleeping," She whispered, referring to the lump in one of the beds.

That was when Naruto realized what kind of a situation he was in. He was here in the middle of the night in a girl's room....

This was very inappropriate.

" Ahhh! Sorry, Hinata-chan, I didn't mean to come and wake you up, I was just-" He was backing up, going towards the door, hoping Kakashi wouldn't walk in and see what was happening.

" Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, confused, her pale white eyes questioning, but that was when Naruto tripped on the cup that Hinata had dropped and forgotten to pick up. He keeled over and grabbed the nearest thing to prevent him from falling..

Which was sadly, Hinata. Hinata fell as well, and landed on the ground, Naruto, on top of her.

Both of them breathing hard, they realized the situation they were in a bit late. Naruto felt his face flush as he felt the curves of her body underneath his...this was probably the most contact he had ever come to with a girl....were they usually this soft?

And pretty?

" Argh!" He cried, getting up quickly. " I'm s-sorry, Hinata-chan, I'm r-really sorry-" He was stuttering? Nooo, that couldn't be! But he was. It was just that the moonlight was coming in through the windows, highlighting Hinata's features and an ache was spreading through him, unlike any he had ever experienced before..

" Naruto-kun?"

Her voice was soothing him, running through him like a waterfall...

Something was happening to him. This room was cursed! He had to get out of there!" I just came here to say sorry, Hinata-chan! I didn't mean to be so rude before!! gomen nasai!!"

And with that, he ran out of the room, as fast as he could, before weirder things could happen to him.

And that's when it all started. The feelings. They had come back to the village soon enough and Naruto was hoping everything would return to normal. The usual ramen shop, the usual insults and glares and whispers, the usual bothering Sakura and Sasuke and training as hard as he could...and ignoring Hinata...

But now he couldn't. He now turned red like a tomato, every time she passed...a slight mention of her and that ache came back...

He didn't know what was happening for days...days turned into weeks and he finally realized that it was a crush....a deeper one then he ever had on anyone else...all because of one apology turned horribly wrong..

He didn't even know what it was. Maybe it was the close contact with her...maybe he had finally opened up his eyes....and saw her.

His images of her became more detailed. He thought about himself holding her...kissing her...touching her...

It wasn't right. Hinata Hyuuga came from a prestigious family...and here he was, a silly crush on a girl who deserved much better then him. The outcast of the village, the good for nothing vessel of Kyuubi.

But he wanted her. His mind filled up with images of her face, highlighted by the moon, the feel of her body underneath his, her voice...

Her voice saying his name..

And past events started to make sense. The way she blushed around him, the way she stuttered and went out of her way to see him..

But that was just wishful thinking. She probably didn't like him back...surely not the way he liked her. Maybe all that was just pity...

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked down the pathway to his favourite ramen shop....he hadn't had any since breakfast and he really wanted some..

" Naruto-kun?"

Naruto turned red and he whipped around. " H-Hinata-chan!" Damn, why did he have to squeak?

Hinata blushed and looked at the ground. " I-I-I-"

She was stuttering and Naruto felt the need to say something. " Hinata...do you want to get some ramen with me?"

Hinata looked up, shocked and then smiled hesitantly. " O-Okay."

" Yeah!" Naruto cheered and grabbed her hand. Instantly, warmth flooded through him and he stopped, seeing if Hinata would drop his hand....but she didn't. Happiness surrounded his senses and he nearly dragged Hinata to the ramen shop.

They got to the ramen shop quickly enough, eating the ramen and chatting. Naruto still was quite red and Hinata was too. They left the shop and Naruto walked her back to her house.

" That was good ramen, wasn't it??" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, feeling quite hot and feverish standing next to Hinata.

Hinata smiled softly and Naruto felt that ache multiply ten times. He wanted to touch her pale skin, feel the softness and run his fingers across her lips...

" Thank you, Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered.

Naruto jerked out of his day dream and laughed loudly. " You're welcome, Hinata-chan!"

And before his courage could leave him, he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Hinata looked at him, the expression on her face priceless. " Wh-what was that for?" She asked, breathlessly.

" I-I don't know..." Naruto said, the tone of his voice changing from the loud, brash tones he had used before. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the rejection, the slap, the anger...

" I don't think you d-did it right," Hinata whispered.

Naruto opened his eyes, confusedly. " Huh?"

And then, shocking him to the core, she leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Only for one second before she had moved back-but in that one second, jolts of shock, pleasure, surprise had flooded through him.

" I-" He started and then swallowed. " I guess I did do it wrong."

Hinata was red as hell, but she smiled at him. " You'll learn."

And with that, she turned around and walked inside the gates, leaving Naruto, quite shaken behind her.

He put his hand to his heart. Maybe this was love....

He turned around and walked back to his apartment, laughing softly. All this out of one screwed up apology.

a/n: sorta messed this fic up, but styll, i wanted to do a naru/hina!


End file.
